Strikers Parade down Edgewood Avenue

June 1914

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Title
Strikers Parade down Edgewood Avenue
Contributor
University of Pittsburgh (depositor)
Date
June 1914
Identifier
913.7.SW
Description
Parading strikers march northward on Edgewood Avenue with the Pennsylvania Railroad lines and "The Switch" to their left. On June 12th, 1914, some 2000 demonstrators from East Pittsburgh who originally intended to march to the Westinghouse foundry in Trafford decided instead to march to Swissvale upon hearing of the ACIU Local No. 2 strike vote the previous day. The marchers, who brought marching bands and a plethora of American flags and bunting, paraded through Swissvale as workers inside the plant began marching out in columns to join the them and to set up a picket line around the plant on Edgewood and Braddock Avenues. Notice the onlookers from both sides of the battle line: apparent company men standing on the tracks and pedestrians enjoying the festivities from the lawn to the right. The 1914 strike at the Union Switch & Signal Plant began on June 12th when between 1,100 and 1,400 employees walked out at lunch time to picket and join some 2000 strikers from other Westinghouse plants marching on Edgewood and Braddock Avenues in Swissvale. Organized by the Allegheny Congenial Industrial Union, the strikers demanded an eight-hour day, reinstatement of discharged union men, permission for workmen to elect grievance committees, and higher overtime and holiday rates. The union claimed victory upon culmination of the walkout on June 27th, saying that the company had agreed to allow committees and consider the other grievances. Company general manager H.G. Prout dismissed these claims however, asserting that no promises were made to the employees.
Type
still image
Genre
photographs
Subject
Political activists
Men
Strikes and lockouts
Demonstrations
Railroad tracks
Streets
Electric lines--Poles and towers
Geographic Subjects
Swissvale (Pa.)
Source
Union Switch & Signal Strike Photograph Collection, June 1914
Collection
Union Switch & Signal Strike Photographs
Contributor
University of Pittsburgh
Rights Information
Copyright Not Evaluated. The copyright and related rights status of this Item has not been evaluated. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.
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